Related Tags:

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg is laying it on the line warning that the city can’t make up for all of the state’s cutbacks.

“This is the hand we’ve been dealt and the question is how do you do it responsibly?,” Bloomberg said Friday. “Everybody is going to suffer.”

Hard economic times mean that New York City will have to reduce the size of its police force.

“We cannot afford the size police force, fire department, of any of these agencies if we have a $400 million deficit,” said the mayor, referring to the state budget passed Thursday that the city said failed to deliver roughly $400 million in savings that the mayor had demanded.

Shortly afterward, he said the city was on track to set a new record low in murders and crime even though the city has cut the number of New York Police Department officers on the payroll by more than 5,000 since 2002.

“Just think about that. The job is not to spend as much as you can. The job is to provide the service you need and then do it as efficiently as you can,” Bloomberg said.

Still, spokesman Marc LaVorgna said a few hours later, the administration does “not anticipate layoffs of uniformed officers will be necessary.”

The mayor’s proposed budget already calls for the closing of 20 fire companies. He has asked city agencies to suggest additional cuts of 2 and 4 percent but still hasn’t detailed which ones will make it into the budget.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)